Kitchen Audit Checklist
A kitchen audit checklist simplifies regular internal audits. Being proactive with your own kitchen audits helps you prevent accidents, protects you from legal action; and prepares you for an external EHO inspection.
App-based kitchen audit checklist templat
Trail provides you with a kitchen audit checklist template to help you assess your kitchen equipment, premises, procedures and hygiene practices to ensure your business is compliant.
-
Identifies any potential risks, so you can proactively correct them.
-
Detects any problems with your processes.
-
Ensures hygiene standards are being met, keeping your customers and team safe.
-
Prepares you for external audits – running an effective internal audit is the best way to ensure you don’t have any surprises during an EHO inspection. Proper documentation also serves as evidence in an inspection. Check out our EHO inspection guide and HACCP audit guide to make sure you’re ready.
Our templates can also be customised to suit the needs of your business. For example, use our kitchen audit checklist to ensure that items raised in previous EHO inspections are prioritised in your future checks. In our app, you’ll also be able to set up daily checklists that make food safety and hygiene part of your employees’ everyday routines.
Picture your kitchen opening and closing checklist all ticked off. Before you’ve stepped into the kitchen. Your food safety management system front and centre of everyone’s minds. Effortlessly.
Here's how Trail can help
Despite their benefits, traditional audits can be time-consuming.
That’s where we come in. Trail automates repetitive admin with simple digital checks and audit logs. When you use the app for your kitchen audit checklist, you’ll discover that Trail…
-
Guides your teams – by automatically reminding teams when an audit is due and making sure the right steps are taken. Being accessible on all types of devices, it also means fewer hours spent doing admin and more time doing the job.
-
Turns issues into action – Trail takes any issues that are identified in your audits and turns them into regular or one-off tasks to make sure they get actioned.
-
Takes photographic evidence – take photos directly through the app for a more comprehensive kitchen audit. Remove any doubt with evidence and accountability.
-
Provides real-time visibility – don't wait for an audit to find out if something isn't right. With Trail, real-time dashboards and daily reports highlight issues in real-time, so potential issues can be resolved. Before they become a problem.
Why digital beats paper and spreadsheets every time
We get it. Change can seem a little daunting at first. Is it going to take more time to move things over? Will everyone be able to understand how to use the new system? If you’re used to using Excel, you might have had similar thoughts. But what exactly are the benefits of using audit technology like Trail over a spreadsheet?
Saves on time
The traditional way of completing an audit involves adding notes to paper documents to then later scan or manually collate information from multiple spreadsheets and data points into one master document. This isn’t just time consuming, it also risks accuracy.
Trail collates relevant audit information from all areas of your business in real time. You’ll have an instant overview of all this, be able to add tags, and automate the process with just a few clicks. Saving you a huge amount of time. You can then pull as much or as little info as you want and whizz it over to the people who need eyes on it. Now. Not in a week after you’ve posted it. Or it got stuck in their junk folder.
In your hands when you need it
Audits don’t happen in an office. They happen front of house and back of house, where your team works every day. And who’s got time to head back to the PC between checks, remember scores or carry round bulky hardware to record answers? Trail can be used on any device, meaning checks can be done on the move from your phone or tablet, speeding up the process and making sure everything’s covered off accurately.
Fewer mistakes, more efficiency
When completing an audit manually using a spreadsheet, making one simple mistake can throw off the whole process. While that’s frustrating for the person having to fix, it also risks further mistakes within the audit.
This is especially important for audits that concern compliance and safety, where mistakes in auditing can have significant impacts on the business.
With Trail, you no longer have to rely on manual processes and costly human error. Trail helps to highlight any potential issues as they are found throughout the audit, allowing for easy fixes or extra attention where necessary.
Cuts your costs
Sticking with Excel spreadsheets for audits means more time, more work and a higher risk of mistakes. Which also means a higher cost to your business.
Trail has a number of audit templates ready and waiting to go. So you can get cracking straight away. It’s also easy to edit existing content, meaning you can keep your audits up to date without any faff.
Trail also eliminates the need for reams of unnecessary paper, which further helps to save on costs.
“Trail greatly reduced the amount of time we need to spend on internal audits, which has been a great cost-saving for us." Matt Bamber, Operations Director, The New World Trading Company.
Provides up-to-date data in real time
Need an update now? With Trail, you’ll have everything you need at your fingertips now. Without having to trawl through papers or go digging through filing systems. So you can get the answer you need and get back to the next thing on your to-do list.
Helps you look for trends
Trail isn’t just an audit tool. It’s working harder than that. Trail will compare your audits, identify trends and help you find ways to improve. So you’re on the front foot before you’ve even opened the doors.
Whether using Trail or other assistive tech, it’s never been more important for hospitality businesses to save resources by digitising their operations. For more info on how Trail can with your restaurant audit checklist, get in touch with our team for a free demo.
Run your next service with Trail
Try Trail free for 14 days with no card required or book a demo and we'll show you around.
FAQs
How to audit a kitchen?
To audit a kitchen effectively, it’s a good idea to follow a digital structured checklist, covering hygiene, food storage, equipment, staff practices and premises. It’s important to keep a record of your audits as they’ll provide necessary evidence when it comes to EHO inspections.
How frequently should a kitchen audit take place?
Internal kitchen audits should be a mixture of daily and weekly checks to annual reviews. Daily Checks will include things like fridge and freezer temperature checks, verify cleaning schedules and checking allergen controls. Whereas weekly cheeks will include things like reviewing manager standards, general cleanliness, and stock rotation. Quarterly or annually, you might want to perform deep operational reviews or bring in external third parties to help conduct an extensive audit.
What are the 5 key principles of food hygiene?
As encouraged by the World Health Organization, the 5 key principles of food hygiene are to Keep Clean, Separate Raw and Cooked, Cook Thoroughly, Keep Food at Safe Temperatures, and Use Safe Water and Raw Materials. These principles should be represented within your Food Safety Management System.
What’s covered in an EHO inspection in the UK?
Environmental Health Officers (EHO) look for:
-
How hygienically food is handled
-
The condition of your premises
-
How you manage and document food safety
An EHO will inspect the premises to ensure the correct standards are maintained and the food is safe to eat.
What is HACCP?
HACCP stands for Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point, an internationally recognized system used to prevent food safety issues. The 7 Principles of HACCP are: 1. Conduct a hazard analysis 2. Determine the Critical Control Points (CCPs) 3. Establish critical limits. 4. Create monitoring procedures for the CCPs. 5. Establish corrective actions if a CCP is out of control. 6. Establish verification procedures. 7. Keep accurate documentation and records of each stage. Take a look at our HACCP audit guide for more information.